Premier Helen Zille and her cabinet have sent a 40-page letter to Police Minister Bheki Cele demanding more police resources in the province to fight gang violence and other crime.
“The Western Cape Cabinet has today resolved to send a set of urgent demands to Police Minister Bheki Cele on the crisis of police under-resourcing in the Western Cape, where the police-to-population ratio is on average one third lower than the rest of the country.
“The greatest crisis is experienced at stations in precincts with the highest crime rate,” said Zille.
She said her government has stretched its Constitutional powers of oversight to their limits, and supported SAPS through successful community partnerships in crime prevention, where she had a constitutional mandate to act.
Among many other initiatives, the provincial government is supporting Neighbourhood Watches and Community Policing Forums is funding School Resource Officers and has committed resources to help cops secure safety on the rail network.
She says while these efforts are bearing fruit, statistics show that murders are up by 12.6% and that of all murders, 22% are gang-related.
“This is the reason we have consistently called for the re-instatement of specialised units and the deployment of the SANDF in the hardest hit areas,” said Zille.